What I want-Part 4: How do I find that I’m on the finish line?

In the fourth step is to make things measurable. The magical question is always: how do I actually realize that I am on the finish line? I want to see: “there is my goal!“ But am I on my way to the finish line – or am I quite somewhere else? Do I have to make corrections or is it perhaps important to take this detour so that I can reach my final destination? That too may well be the case. It is important that you are aware of this, and that the objective is now translated into something you can measure or.

There are an infinite number of key figures, especially in the professional field, in the world of figures, for example in sales, Controlling, cost management and corporate management. But first of all, it is important to understand: what do I really want to go through? How can I measure or observe what I want?
From the Vision I have derived goals. These goals have to be measured somehow. I have to say that I am standing here and my goal is right back there? Or am I standing here and I only have a little bit left? Can I perhaps say to my Team:”I have already, we have already, dear colleagues, covered a whole piece and now we just have to do this rest step”. This is motivating, because it shows something that is elementary to Motivation and that is progress. Progress is the key Element.
We want to measure this progress and therefore we need Performance Indicators at this point. That sounds sultry and academic for the time being, but it’s nothing more than that you can see if you’re on the finish line. For this purpose, you have the world of figures, data and facts at your disposal. But there are also many things that can’t be measured hard: for example, if you want the employees to be able to manage conflicts. You can’t measure it – but you can watch it.
In this second area, companies like to create so-called Indices from observations. You can, of course, measure behavior in an Index. For example, you can use Scoring procedures or surveys to determine how an employee behaves. If he now manages conflicts proactively, can he deal with conflicts? You need, for example, a scale of 1 to 6, an even number of notes without the “Golden mean” or odd (e.g., from 1 to 5), which allows a neutral evaluation – as there are different concepts.
It is important to understand here that you can bridge from observation to the world of figures, data, facts – but sometimes the reverse is also necessary. It may well be that I create so-called Performance Indicators in the field of figures, data and facts, which must then be interpreted. This is done on the Basis of observations. A good example is the so-called innovation management. When you enter a new business area, for example, introduce a new product or do something completely new, this can – in pure numbers – go down alongside the so-called routine management. Why? Quite simply: companies often observe that the same criteria are applied to a new business area or a new product as to existing business areas. If, as expected, the innovative product does not perform as well as the others, the results of the product go down quickly. Then you can quickly see: the new product is under the rankings-and then it says: away with it! And so many innovations are stifled in the bud.
picture: the new product can – yet – not compete with our Cash Cows
should we throw product 3 out of the program?
That is, here we go the reverse way of the Figures, data and facts to the observations because I must observe, for example: how is the market in the new box? How do competitors operate, what do customers say? What soft information did we collect? This is an important Element that should not be hidden here.
So both are important: Figures, data and facts and observations. Both can be guided together. For this there are many methods, such as the Balanced Scorecard[1] – there are numerous measurement methods, observation methods, surveys and so on. Now take your Vision, derive your goals and see how you can either measure or observe each of these goals. You have to keep these two things in mind. Do this now, please.
Take a fourth piece of paper. We now translate our objective into a Performance indicator. For example, for the purpose of “employees can deal with conflicts”, I first think of a point that I can measure or observe. In this case, I observe fewer conflicts between my employees. Of course, these are subjective observations, of course you can miss out on a lot – but it is important that you indicate progress. You start observing and you will see that during the process you are getting better and better at observing, perceiving, hearing, seeing. When you enter a room, do you feel the climate? Do the employees talk to each other, are they proactive, are they trustful in dealing with each other – or do they crackle there, because someone might have to take action?
Take a sheet of paper, and draw the following table :
figure: your goals and Performance indicators in the Form of indicators and observations in the wider sense, i.e.: seeing, hearing, feeling.
[1]_____________________________________________________________________________________
Take this example: less conflicts can be observed permanently. For example, in the case of “permanent”, you might say that you will pay attention in the company to whether employees can resolve their conflict within a week or the same day. For these observations, I would recommend that you create a Journal and record your observations. This does not have to be a novel, but it should reflect in a short Form how the whole thing has moved and developed.
So please set up your measurement criteria or your observation criteria based on your objectives now.
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